Need advice about this career.

[K.Pham]

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Hello there,

Im 16, turning 17 in May, and I have always wanted to be a doctor. The truth is that I like the challenge and the respect I will get after becoming one. Helping people is also important to me and the salary is definately important. I would like your opinion on why you want to become a doctor and whether I could succeed in the profession. Im doing well in school, my grades are pretty good. I am getting high grades for highschool sciences. My writing ability is not "amazing". How much in debt would i be to become a doctor? And can you tell me the salary that a family doctor would make?

Your opinions will help me determine my future.

Thanks

Edit: Sorry if this is the wrong forum. New here.

 

[cfdavid]

KPham, if you ask 100 people, you'd probably get 100 different opinions about medicine; what it takes to get there; is it worth it? .....

My advice would be to go the closest hospital to your home. Most have a volunteer office, where you can easily find a volunteer position that will allow you to start getting some exposure.

Keep up the grades, as that will help you no matter what you end up doing.

But you need to be careful about asking for advice on such a forum, as you may get a bit discouraged from some of the crappy responses you may get.

Good luck.

 

[beanbean]

Do well in high school and find a college or university you will enjoy attending.

Have fun at college, but keep your grades up! Major in anything you like at college, but you will need 2 semesters of bio, 2 of general chem, 2 of physics, 2 of organic chem, sometimes calculus and a semester of English to apply to med school.

Take the MCAT - probably your junior year of college

Apply to med schools!

That is the basic plan.

 

[j48seconds]

The best thing you can do is find out what a doctor does by volunteering at a hospital or clinic. If you are lucky, shadow a doctor first hand. Also, research what medicine is about and especially family doctors. You want to be well informed. But just remember, you don't have to decide your future in high school. You still have time left to figure things out in college. You may have to start taking the prereq. classes early but taking those classes does help some people decide that medicine is not for them. It's not a just wake up in the morning discovery. It takes time to really figure out if and why you want to be a doctor. After everything you have to go through just to apply to medical school, if you are still interested in medicine than you are set.
Get to know what you are getting yourself into and ask doctors about their lives.